Nigeria struggles to stem flood of fake auto parts 1 August 2006 A bus driver and six of his passengers were killed in Nigeria when the fake brakes on their vehicle failed, causing it to somersault twice on the Lagos-Ibadan highway. Many other passengers were injured. This was just yet another example where fake automobile parts have heightened the occurrence of road accidents. Much worse was the disaster that occurred on the motorway connecting Ibadan and Ile-Ife to the east of the country when a petrol tanker travelling at high speed attempted to brake. The poorly maintained vehicle suffered total brake failure and ploughed into the queue of cars right ahead. The resultant explosion killed over 150 people and gutted about 115 cars. The bus disaster might have been averted if the vehicle had an effective brake mechanism. As it was, the brake shoe linings, made of compressed gas, had slackened and burst into flames at the sudden impact with the driver’s feet. They were just two and a half weeks old, but the bus owner had unknowingly fitted his bus with counterfeit brake shoe linings. According to Felix Nyado, head of enforcement, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, there are about 1500 pirated automobile components while 80 per cent of vehicle parts being sold in the country are believed to be either fake or of questionable quality. It is claimed they are responsible for most automobile accidents in the country, but no accurate statistics exist. Consumer demand The situation is blamed on harsh economics, with many motorists prepared to buy counterfeit vehicle parts at relatively low prices instead of the more expensive originals. Indeed, the local automotive parts market in Lagos is said to be a thriving outlet of branded counterfeits that are sold at interesting prices. For instance, a Bolus or Dorian oil filter sells at N550 while Super Filter, a Chinese imitation, sells at N200. Also, original spark plugs produced by the Japanese NGK, Toyota and American Motorcraft vehicle parts manufacturing outfits sell at N220 each while their Chinese imitations can be obtained at N55 for one. A set of Mercedes Benz-190 front brake pads by Meyle, a German auto parts manufacturer, sells at N600 while Jurid, its Chinese imitation goes for N350. A global problem There is no question that auto parts counterfeiting is already big business in the automobile sector. Industry estimates show that counterfeiting accounts for over $12 billion a year in lost auto parts sales globally. This is about 10 per cent of the $120 billion world trade deficit due to the production and marketing of fake products, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. As a result, international trade and law enforcement organisations now place automotive parts counterfeiting activities at the top of the international crimes list alongside computers and fashion apparel counterfeiting. The picture gets murkier when ‘knockoffs’ are included. These are parts reverse-engineered to look like the originals and they often bear the original parts’ numbers, while skirting patent and trademark infringement laws by avoiding the actual brand names. In countries where such knockoffs are produced, China, in particular, weak or non-existent laws offer little protection to the original designer. For example, and previously reported in CC, General Motors has been unable to stop production of a Chevy look-alike in China under the name Chery. Also, Honda has found it difficult to make ShuangHuan Auto discontinue its production of the Laibao S-RV, a glaring imitation of its CRV model. Thus, just as it is easy to replicate whole marques, auto parts counterfeiters encounter little or no problem replicating established auto parts. Many of them often operate under their own brand identities and make no obvious attempt to pass their products as those of original parts makers. Instead, they offer lower cost alternatives and leave quality decisions to the end user. Emerging solutions New technologies for identifying genuine parts are however emerging. One of the most promising systems comes from Info Glyph, a US-based high-tech company that specialises in placing tiny encoded symbols in a variety of materials. These encrypted markings can be read only by a special tool to verify if the part is genuine. But it will be a long while before it reaches Nigeria. In the meantime, many hope the 13-yearold National Automotive Council, NAC, a brainchild of the Nigerian federal government, could provide an answer to the problem by fostering the technological advancement of the local automotive sector. This would put it in a good position to compete with and, ultimately, end the trade in fakes. But to do this NAC might need to take steps similar to the ones taken by Dora Akunyili, the director-general of the National Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, in her efforts to sanitise the counterfeit-driven local pharmaceutical industry. The future of the Nigerian automotive industry may hinge on such efforts, and maybe the government will awake to the urgency of the situation and make spirited efforts to discontinue the country’s service as a dumping ground for fake and substandard auto parts. Source : Counterfeiting Confidential August 2006